Scoring machine



- March 2 1926.

R. E. J. NORDQUIST SCORING MACHINE Filed NOV. 12, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet M [/VVE TOR.

ATTORNEYS March 2 1926.

1,575,223 R. E. J. NORDQUIST v SCORING MACHINE Filed Nov. 12, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 N VE N 01?.

A TTORNE Ys Match 2 1926. 1,575,223

R. E. J. NORDQUIST sconme MACHINE Filed Nov. .12. 1925 3 Sheets$heet 5 A TTORNEZ'Y s Patented Mar. 2, 1926 UNITED STATES 4 1,575,223 PATENT OFFICE.

RONALD E. J. NORDQ UIST, OF MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CAN COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SCORING Application filed November To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RONALD E. J. Norm Urs'r, a itizen of the United States, residing in Maplewood, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Scoring Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention'relates to scoring machines of the general type shown in a co-pending application of Magnus E. VVidell, Serial No. 674,129, filed Nov. 12, 1923, and as signed to the assignee of the present invention.

Both the VVidell invention and the present one provide a machine which is adapted to perform a plurality of scoring operations upon a can body blank, as it passes therethrough, thus increasing the speed and reducing. the cost of production, as well as obtaining more accurate results than are possible where separate machines are used forseparate scoring operations, as has been the practice in the past. The separate scoring operations referred to are, for example, the cutting of parallel score lines to provide a tearing stri in the container body and the cutting of diagonal score lines therebetween toinsure the tearing of the strip along the parallel lines.

In the Widell machine, a plurality of different operation scoring rollers are arranged in tandem relationship above the surface of a feeding table and feeding rollers are provided therebeneath, all said rollers being positively driven by gearing connecting them with a source, of power. It has been found that, with such a construction, the diameters of the successive scoring rollers must always be-exactly the same to prevent a dragging action between the scoring edges on the rollers and the blank being operated upon, due to the difference between the lineal speed of the blank and the peripheral travel of therollers. Very great mechanical precision is thus required for accurate operation of the machine and it is a principal object of my invention to provide an improvement which will, in large measure, eliminate the necessity for such mechanical precision, thus rendering the machine more practical for general use. In accordance with my invention, the scoring rollers are so mounted and operated that they are free from the power mechanism and their pe- MACHINE.

12, 1923. Serial No. 674,370.

ripheral speed is always the same as the lineal speed of the blank, thereby preventing the dragging action referred to above and producing more accurate and success.

ful results.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for adjusting the vertical position of the scoring rollers with such erractness that any desired depth of out can be obtained.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine in which my invention is embodied, the upper part thereof being broken away to better illustrate the operating elements;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation;

Fig. ,3 is a partial vertical section, taken substantially on the section line 33 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a partial horizontal section and plan view, taken substantially on the section line et4= in Fig. 2 and showing the scoring and flattening rollers in detail;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a can body blank, showing the action of the different rollers thereon; and

Fig. 6 is a detail section, taken substantially on the line 6-6 in Fig. 4.

As thus illustrated, the machine comprises a standard 21, adapted to rest upon the floor and supporting a main head 22, in which' the operating elements are mounted. A

feeding table 23 is secured at the front of the,

head 22by means of screws 24, said table being provided upon its upper surface with lateral guides 25 and a guide plate 26 positioned therebetween. Said guides serve to hold the blank accurately in a predetermined course of travel as it is fed through the machine.

A plurality of scoring rollers are mounted in tandem relationship above the feeding table 23, said rollers, in the present instance, comprisingaparallel line roller 27, a diag- .onal line roller 28 and a flattening roller Said rollers are mounted upon short shafts 31, having bearings 1n bearing blocks 32 and 33, which have a tongue and slot connection at 34 and are secured together by means of screws 35, said blocks forming together slides 36, which are held in position by means of ways 37 formed integrally with the head 22. The blocks 32 are cut away at 38 to provide a space for the rollers 27, 28 and 29. Disposed beneath said rollers, in cor-- responding relationship, are feeding rollers 39 which protrude slightly above the surface of the table 23 and are mounted on horizontal shafts ll, having bearings in bearing blocks 42 and 33 formed in the head 22 and in blocks secured to the front of said head. Said rollers 39 are adapted to engage the under side of the blan ZS 4:5 and to cooperate with the rollers 27 28 and 29 in feeding said blank across the table during the scoring operations.

The shafts 4:1 have spur gears d6 mounted thereon adjacent the inner side of the bearing block 43 and these gears mesh with similar gears 47 on two shafts e8 having bearings in the blocks 4-2 and 43 and disposed beneath and parallel to the shafts 41. Upon one of the shafts 48 there is mounted a pulley 49 adapted to be driven from any suitable source of power.

The rollers 39 are thus positively driven and the rollers 27, 28 and 29 are idly mount-- ed thereabove so as to be free from the power mechanism. Upon the rollers 27 and 28 there are provided rubber rings 51 adapted to engage the upper surface of the blank, the distance between said rings and the rollers 39 being substantially the thickness of the metal. As the blank is fed between the rollers 27 and 39, motion is imparted thereto by rotation of the roller 39 and said n10- tion is imparted to the roller 27 through the medium of the ring 51. Said roller 27 is provided with cutting edges 52 disposed circumferentially thereabout in parallel relationship and adapted to cut parallel score lines 53 in the blank 45 (see Fig. 5), said lines setting off a tearing strip in said blank adapted to be torn away for the purpose of opening the container. As the sheet is moved between said roller 27 and the first roller 39, its forward edge is engaged between the ring 51 on the roller 28 and the second roller 39 and is next engaged between the flattening roller 29 and the third roller 39. The roller 28 is provided with diagonal cutting edges 54; adapted to cut diagonal score lines in the blank, these being for the purpose of directing the line of tear back to the lines 53, in case it should be deflected therefrom in opening the container, thus insuring the effective removal of the tearing strip. The roller 29 is flat and is adapted to remove any irregularities from the score lines after the operation of the scoring rollers just described.

Referring now to Fig. 5, the action of the different rollers may be clearly understood.

The lines 55, 56 and 57 indicate the central lines of the rollers 27, 28 and 29, respectively, and it will thus be apparent that all of said rollers act upon the blank at the same time, with the result indicated.

For the purpose of adjusting the slides 36, I provide for each slide a threaded sleeve 58 and a locking stud 59, which passes through the center of said adjusting sleeve 58 and into the slide 36. Said sleeve 58 extends through a top plate 61, and is provided with a hexagon head for facilitating its rotation when adjustment takes place. Directly under this hexagon head, said sleeve 58 has a round disc 62, which is integral with the sleeve 58. By this mechanism any desired depth of score cut can be obtained by proper adjustment of the position of the scoring rollers. To facilitate the rotation of said scoring and flatteningrollers, which, as has been previously described, are not positively driven, but merely rotated by the move ment of the blank, I provide roller bearings, indicated at 63, between said rollers and the shafts 31, these being of any wellknown or preferred type.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will-be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and ar rangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A machine for scoring blanks for tearing strip containers, comprising a feeding table, a feeding roller for directing the blanks across said table, and a free scoring roller disposed above said feeding roller and adapted to be rotated by the motion of the blank to perform a scoring operation upon the latter.

2. A nachine for scoring blanks for tearing strip containers, comprising a feeding table, feeding rollers for directing the blanks across said table, a plurality of free scoring rollers disposed above said feedin rollers and adapted to be rotated by thii motion of the blank to perform a plurality of scoring operations upon the latter, and means for vertically adjusting said scoring rollers.

3. A machine for scoring blanks for tearing strip containers, comprising a feeding table, feeding rollers for directing the blanks across said table, and a plurality of free operating rollers disposed above said feeding rollers and adapted to be rotated the motion of the blank to perform a plurality of scoring operations and a smoothing operation upon the latter.

4. A machine for scoring blanks for tearing strip containers, comprising a feeding table, feeding rollers for directin the blanks across said table, and a plurality of free scoring rollers disposed above said feeding rollers and adaptedto be rotated by the motion of the blank to perform a plurality of scoring operations upon the latter, said scoring rollers being arranged to act upon different parts of the blank simultaneously.

5. A machine for scoring blanks for tearing strip containers, comprising a feeding table, means for feeding the blanks across said table,*a plurality of different operation free scoring rollers above said table, and means for vertically adjusting the position of said rollers.

6. A machine for scoring blanks for tear ing strip containers, comprising a feeding table,'means for moving the blank across said table, a plurality of free scoring rollers adapted to out different score designs in the blank, and vertically adjustable bearings in which said rollers are idly mounted.

7. A machine for scoring blanks for tearing strip containers, comprising a feeding table, feeding rollers for directing the blanks across said table, a plurality of free scoring rollers disposed above said feeding rollers and adapted to be rotated by the motion of the blank to perform a plurality of scoring operations upon the latter, and roller bearings for said scoring rollers.

8. A machine for scoring blanks fortearing strip containers, comprising a feeding table, a feeding roller for directing the blanks across said table, and a free scoring roller disposed above said feeding roller and adapted to be rotated by the motion of the blank to perform a scoring operation upon the latter, and an elastic friction ring connecting the blank with the free scoring roller to cause the movement of the latter to coincide with the movement of the blanks.

9. A machine for scoring blanks for tearing strip containers, comprising a feeding table, feeding rollers for directing the blanks across said table, a plurality of free scoring rollers disposed above said feeding rollers and adapted to be rotated by the motion of the blank to perform a plurality of scoring operations upon the latter, means for vertically adjusting said scoring rollers, and an elastic friction ring connecting the blank with the free scoring roller to cause the movement of the latter to coincide with the movement of the blanks.

RONALD E. J. NORDQUIS'IX 

